Girl Meets the Rules: What Happens After Class
by fireandice217
Summary: In which Maya and Lucas are both in denial. May contain traces of guilt and false hope.
1. Chapter 1

"It might've taken forever to get off, but it was totally worth it," Maya decides. "I'm gonna miss the war paint look."

"I'm not," a blue and red faced Farkle says. "I'm never taking this off."

Cory smiles, shaking his head as he closes the classroom door behind him. And then he

narrows his eyes. Wait. Something's missing. Make that _someone._ Make that _three_ someones. "Where's _Zay?"_ he asks a little too innocently.

"Cleaning off his face paint," Maya answers, looking down at her nails with an air of nonchalance.

Cory waits for more information, specifically about his two _other_ missing students. Maya

offers none. "And? Where is Riley?"

"Not with Sundance, that's for sure."

...

"Here, Lucas, I got you," Riley offers, taking a wet cloth to his face. Sure, maybe the

bathroom would've been a more _practical_ place for him to take off his face paint, but the way she sees it, this way she gets to help him, and that's really much more efficient.

At least, _that's_ what she told Lucas when she dragged him into the art room and away from the boys' bathroom (to the disgruntlement of a bathroom-headed Zay).

"Thank you, Riley," he smiles gently.

She stifles a giggle. "Anytime."

"Riley?" She turns around to find her father standing the doorway. Smiling.

Wait. _Smiling?_ At her and Lucas? _Together?_ Could it be possible that he'd finally moved past his crazy shoe-stealing stage and onto the stage of acceptance towards Riley and Lucas' friendship? "Dad?" she returns, smiling back hopefully.

"Can I talk to you for a minute? _Away_ from here?"

 _Okay,_ so maybe he's not onto the stage of _acceptance…_ but he still doesn't have either one of Lucas' shoes in his hands!

She sighs lightly, handing the wet cloth to Lucas. "Sure, Dad." She smiles apologetically at Lucas before turning to leave the room.

...

Lucas smiles a little as Riley and her dad leave; he can't help but be amused at how he

and Riley no longer dating has failed to put a stop to Mr. Matthew's overprotective streak. He's about to head to the bathroom now that he has no one to help him get his paint off when a voice behind him breaks his thoughts.

"Your life here is a lot more complicated than it was back in Texas-"

He jumps.

"-isn't it, Lucas?"

"Zay," he breathes. "You scared me. What's up?"

His friend shoots him an uncertain looking half smile. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Lucas narrows his eyes. "Pardon me?"

Zay leans his head forward, an incredulous grin plastered across his face. "' _Pardon me?'_ Man, you've really got this whole Southern gentleman act down to a T, don'cha?"

...

"Now, Riley, I know that you and Lucas have a, what shall we say, _history-"_

"Dad. We went on one date."

Maya scrunches her face in a teasing smile at Riley as she follows her dad past her friends and into their classroom. Poor Riles; Maya couldn't _imagine_ living with a dad that overprotective.

Oh. The thought makes her wince the second she thinks it, and she can't help but vaguely wonder how her own father would react to her dating life if he hadn't left.

Well, maybe not really _dating,_ she thought, an image of Riley's Uncle Boing coming to mind. More like… well, no, "stalking" isn't the right word, more like-

"What was _that?"_

Maya tilts her head at the high pitched squeal, shaken out of her thoughts. "What?"

"You and Lucas?" Farkle's wide eyes did nothing to downplay the wild streaks of color on his face. "And the closeness and the teasing and the-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Farkle. What?"

"You were flirting with Lucas." Farkle's face is a complete blank.

Wait. _Flirting?_ With _Ranger Rick?_

...

Lucas can feel his face heating up the way it did when Zay first walked into their class. His shoulders are tense. "It's not an act."

"What I can't figure out," Zay goes on, ignoring Lucas' response, "is how _much_ of it is an act." He raises a brow. "Was that little moment you had with Maya earlier an act?"

Lucas sputters. "What _moment?_ You mean when she grabbed my collar and called me Hopalong?"

He swears Zay's nod is almost _solemn._

...

Maya sighs and just barely resists tossing him an eye roll. "Farkle, we've been over this a million times-when I grab you by the collar, it's cause I'm mad, _not_ cause I'm hitting on you."

"I'm not asking for me," he says, pausing to gather his courage (or so Maya assumes-because lord knows it took a whole lot of courage to say what he did next). "I'm asking for Riley."

Wait. " _What?"_

...

"That was nothing-we're like that all the time," Lucas says.

"I know; that's what's throwing me off!" Zay shakes his head and then laughs a little. "Do you know that when I first came here, I thought you and Maya had something going on?"

Lucas' mouth falls open. "You thought we were dating?"

"Dating? No. Crushing? Yes! Big time!"

Lucas huffs.

"On the way to dating?" Zay adds, and he waits until Lucas has met his eye again to answer. "Maybe." He doesn't smile, doesn't blink, and Lucas sees by the glint in his eye that he is completely serious.

"Well you were wrong." He can't listen to this anymore; he starts out the door.

...

Farkle shrinks back at Maya's sharp tone. "I'm just saying-"

"What _are_ you saying, Farkle? Are you saying you think I would _hurt_ Riley? _Ever?"_ And she's about to go for _his_ collar when-

"I'm saying that sometimes you do things without considering what the consequences will be," Farkle blurts, and the paint on his face does _nothing_ to hide the blush. The truth of his words sends Maya reeling back a few steps; when he speaks again, his voice is soft. "And I don't want you to do something you'll regret."

It's ridiculous, but even as Maya is furious with Farkle for even _implying_ she would hurt Riley, she can't help but feel proud of him for speaking his mind like that.

That pride, of course, is the _only_ thing stopping her from killing him in that moment. "Well no need to worry, Farkle the _Brave,_ Sundance and I aren't like that. We're friends."

"We're friends," a second voice echos as Lucas barrels ahead of Zay through the hall. Until he sees Maya and Farkle. And then he and Zay both stop (Lucas by choice; Zay more or less by tripping over Lucas' standing body).

"You guys okay there?" Maya queries. "Oh, I get it: they don't want us to know they're talking about _Riley,"_ she says to Farkle, shooting him a meaningful look.

Lucas and Zay, for their part, give away nothing of their conversation.

By staring. In silence. At any place _other_ than Maya. For a full ten seconds.

Maya raises a brow inquisitively but only says, "Right. Well, my mom's waiting for me outside-we're going out for her birthday. So I'll see you guys."

Lucas sideyes Zay a second before declaring, "I'll walk you out."

"Really, Hopalong? I think I can make out of the building safely on my own," she teases as they leave a dumbstruck Farkle and Zay.

"Hey, that's Maddog to you, " Lucas returns, grinning from ear to ear.

Farkle and Zay stare at the two-Lucas pulling the door open for Maya, Maya rolling her eyes and no doubt making a comment on how she is _more_ than capable of opening a door for herself-faces scrunched up in identical suspicion, before seeming to remember the other's presence.

Farkle clears his throat. "So," he ventures, trying and failing to appear casual. "What were you and Lucas talking about?"

Zay's answer is easy, relaxed, and comes with a smile. "I was helping him get the paint off his face."

"I thought Riley was doing that."

His smile falls. "So what were you and Maya talking about?"

Farkle huffs out a little laugh. "She was asking me out again; I told her I'd think about it." His arms stretch over his head in what is totally a relaxed stretch and not at all a nervous reflex.

"I thought _you_ were the one always asking _her_ out."

He slowly sets his arms back to his sides.

 _Um._

"So I'll see-"

"I'll see you around," they blurt at once, Zay striding towards the entrance doors and Farkle darting in the opposite direction.

...

A moment later, Riley steps out of the classroom, holding the door out for her dad. "So you and Lucas really _aren't_ going out anymore?" Cory repeats.

"Huh," she says to the empty hallway. "I wonder where everyone went? And, no, Dad, we're not dating anymore." She pulls out her phone then, pressing Maya's contact number.

tell your mom happy bday from me! and you'll never guess what my dad just said. he STILL thinks lucas and me like each other. do you believe that?! no seriously do you? like has he said anything about me lately?

She smiles to herself as she presses send-true, she and Lucas had a rocky start to building their friendship since she found out he got expelled from his last school, but they'd moved past that. In fact, since she'd accepted the truth about why Lucas left Texas, she felt closer to him than ever: no more secrets. Maybe that's what had been holding them back from couple status the whole time; maybe now that all the cards were out on the table, they could finally have a fresh start.

She keeps her phone in her hand rather than putting it in her pocket, eagerly awaiting a response from her best friend.


	2. Chapter 2: The Dating Debacle

"Honey?"

"Peaches?"

"You sure you wanna do this?"

Riley pouts. "Why are you trying to talk me out of this?"

"I'm not trying to talk you out of this! It's just…" and Maya starts pacing through the hallway.

"Yeah?" Riley follows.

"Sometimes-" she turns back toward the lockers.

"What?"

"You plan to do something that's more like something I would normally do-"

"And?" Riley's right behind her.

"You choke," Maya finishes, coming to a stop.

Riley nearly knocks her over before stopping herself and sucking in a huge gasp, eyebrows furrowed in offense. "I do not!"

"Really?" Maya challenges. "You wanna argue with me on this?"

Pause. "You're right, I do," Riley mutters, sliding down her locker onto the school floor.

Maya just laughs, sliding down next to her. "I'm not saying don't ask out Lucas. Just… maybe let me do most of the talking."

...

Farkle slams his tray down on the lunchroom table. "Riley's asking you out."

Lucas swallows the remaining chips in his mouth. "What?"

"Yep."

"She told you that?"

"Well, she didn't TELL me exactly," Farkle starts, sitting down. "But she's wearing her green top with the black flowers, and she ONLY wears that when she's planning to do something she's afraid of. What else could it be?"

"Um, she could have a test or a speech or be planning to finally kill the spider living in her locker?" Lucas smirks. "It's Riley."

Farkle's eyes widen at his friend's calmness. "I know what I'm talking about, Lucas. It's Riley. Semi-formal just happened, things didn't work out with that Charlie guy, and now the shirt? She's asking you out."

"Hey, there," Zay greets, plopping down next to Lucas. "What are we talking about?"

"Riley's asking Lucas out."

Zay's brows jump. "RILEY?"

"Why do you sound so surprised? They dated before."

A look passes between Lucas and Zay. Now FARKLE'S eyes narrow. "Is there something I don't know? Because you KNOW I like to know everything."

"No, that's just why I was confused," Zay says slowly, finally turning back to Farkle. "I figured they were over."

Farkle glances at Lucas, still suspicious. Lucas doesn't seem to notice though-he's now staring down at his tray in deep thought; he bites his lip. "You really think she's gonna ask me out?"

Farkle glances up to get a better look at two splotches in the corner of his eye. Speak of the devil-or, the angel and her best friend, the devil. He nods toward the two. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

...

"Wait." Riley stops short as Lucas turns around, sees her, and promptly turns back to the lunch table. Not even a smile?

Maya turns around to throw her a questioning look.

"What if he says no? Maybe I should wait till after school to do this."

"If you wait till after school, you'll chicken out for sure, and then I'LL have to ask out Ranger Rick again." She hooks an arm around Riley's shoulder. "And nobody wants that."

With that, she pulls her over to the lunch table, taking a seat next to Farkle, Riley dragging a seat to the end of the table, in between Farkle and Lucas.

"Hey, guys," Riley greets. "What'd we miss?"

There's a pause. "The first five minutes of lunch," Zay says, covering up the awkward silence. "Where were you guys?"

Riley looks down to hide her blush, remembering her conversation with Maya. "Nowhere…"

"We were just talking to Riley's dad," Maya cuts in.

"You mean in the classroom?" Farkle asks.

"Where else?"

"That's funny," Zay says, "since he's been in the lunchroom since the period started." He points to their cheerful, mashed-potatoes-eating teacher sitting alone in the corner of the lunchroom.

Oh.

Time for a change in topic.

"So, Ranger Rick is awful quiet today," she says with a smile. "What's wrong? You missing the cows again?" she feigns a southern accent.

He smiles despite himself, looking up from the tray he'd been studying so carefully since she and Riley'd arrived at the table. "Thanks for the concern, mam, but I'm fine."

"How come you never call me a cowboy?" Zay blurts.

Maya opens her mouth. Closes it.

"Wow, these mashed potatoes are good," Lucas says.

"That must be why you've eaten so much of them," Maya notes dryly, eyeing his almost full tray.

He clears his throat. "You're right. They're not that good. And I'm gonna go replace them with a tray of hashbrowns instead." He takes off with his tray to the dismay of both Riley and Maya.

"Maya, what do I do now?"

"I don't know," Maya answers slowly. "I've never seen this before."

Riley gives her a pleading look.

Ugh. "Fine," Maya grumbles, standing up. "I'll go see what broke Huckleberry."

...

"YOU look like someone who is not getting hashbrowns."

Lucas flinches, dropping his tray clumsily on the counter of the waiting-line. "Maya."

She smirks, taking a few more steps toward him and setting her elbow on the counter. "What's the deal, Ranger Rick?"

He raises a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you barely said a word at the table, and now you've been standing here for the past minute, staring at those mashed potatoes like they hold the secret of life."

He glances down, muttering something under his breath.

"What was that?"

His eyes meet hers. "People change people: the secret of life."

Her lips quirk up in a smile at the familiar line. "Right. And I am about to change yours."

"You are?"

"I am."

...

"What do you think they're saying?" Farkle hisses.

"I think I know," Zay whispers back.

"What?"

"They're saying, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHISPER IN THE LUNCHROOM, FARKLE."

Farkle scoffs. "Why would they be saying that?"

Riley laughs a little, craning her head to see above the crowded lunch tables and over to the waiting-line where Maya and Lucas are stood. They're both smiling-that's gotta be a good sign, right? Maya turns toward her then-was it that obvious she was watching?-and motions her over.

"I'll be right back," she tells Farkle and Zay, never keeping her eyes off the two at the waiting-line.

"Hey, guys," Riley says, flipping her hair oh-so-casually. "What's up?"

"Lucas," Maya starts with a deliberate look in her eyes-she only ever calls him Lucas when she wants something-"Riley has something she wants to ask you."

"Now?" Lucas blurts without thinking. He sort of figured if she was going to ask him out, she'd wait until after school. But maybe Farkle was wrong-maybe she's about to ask him if he wants to cram in some studying before their history test next period or if he can kill the spider in her locker for her.

Then he remembers: Farkle's never wrong.

Oh.

"Yes, now," Maya says, her eyes flickering with annoyance. She turns to the other girl then. "Riles?"

"Right," Riley starts, suddenly looking frozen where she's stood. "Lucas-um. I-Do you-"

Maya runs an exasperated hand through her hair. "Honey, we talked about this: six simple words."

...

Zay's eyes move from the three at the waiting-line to Farkle and back again. "You really think Riley's gonna ask Lucas out?"

"No question." His eyes go back to his chicken pot pie before snapping back up to his friend. "Why do you care?"

"You think they're right for each other?" Zay asks, eyes still glued on the three.

Farkle pauses. "I don't know," he admits.

Zay's eyes meets his once again. "Really?"

Farkle bites his lip. "Look, everybody knows I'm in love with Riley-and Maya. I want them both to be happy; I want Lucas to be happy too. So if Riley and Lucas make each other happy, and if seeing them together makes Maya happy, then I'm happy-but 'right for each other?' Soulmates?" He shrugs. "I don't know."

That's enough for Zay: a resolute look comes over his face, and without another word, he stands up from the table and strides over to the rest of their friends.

...

"Right." Riley runs her palms over her jeans, trying her best to regain composure. "Lucas, will you-"

"Lucas!" Zay comes bounding over to them.

"Zay," he replies. "What's up?"

"You've gotta get over here, man; Farkle's choking on a tater tot!"

"They're not serving tater tots today," Riley says, suddenly much more relaxed.

"Well then, somebody needs to tell that to Farkle! Come on."

The three follow him back to the table, and it takes racing ahead and performing a fake heimlich maneuver on a very confused, very annoyed Farkle, but by the end of the spectacle, lunch is over; it's too late for anyone to ask anyone out.

Unfortunately, not EVERYONE seems to be convinced of Farkle's choking; on the way out of the cafeteria, Maya tosses Zay and Farkle a suspicious glare. "Remind me I need to talk to you two later."


End file.
